Vehicle wash operators have used water reclaim or reclamation systems for decades to reduce the amount of fresh water required by the wash and the amount of water discharged from the wash to minimize the cost of municipal water and sewer charges. The first reclaim systems incorporated a collection pit to collect large solids such as rocks and debris, a recirculation pump to deliver water from the pit to the wash equipment, and possibly a sand separator (50-60 micron removal) to remove some finer solids. Although these systems saved water and sewer costs, they also created deleterious issues with the vehicle wash equipment due to, for example, increased maintenance from plugging of lines, plugging of nozzles, and increased wear of wash equipment pumps. These systems further introduced a foul odor from increased biological activity.
The next generation of reclaim systems that have been used in the last ten years have improved, but at the expense of increased maintenance and operating costs. For example, finer filtration techniques used as the filter media tend to plug with biological activity that cannot be easily removed and disposable filters increase operating costs for replacement parts and labor. With the need of increased maintenance comes more downtime of these reclaim systems for said maintenance or poor performance, resulting in higher water and sewer costs for the wash operator. Additionally, these reclaim systems require greater attention and water treatment knowledge by the vehicle wash operator. As a result of the above delineated problems, many of these reclaim systems have been abandoned and bypassed.
Notwithstanding, water has become an ever increasing limited commodity and an ever increasing operating expense to the operators of vehicle wash systems. Additionally, some local municipalities require the use of water reclaim systems. While other municipalities charge water, sewer, and connection fees that make reclaiming water from the wash a necessity to keep operating expenses within budget for the wash operator. As a result, the use of water reclaim systems has continued to increase in spite of the significant problems associated therewith.
Accordingly, there is a need for a vehicle wash water reclaim system that, inter alia, ameliorates or overcomes one or more of the significant shortcomings delineated hereinabove.